Description
Job Title: Senior Cloud Engineer / Observability Engineer (Contract)
Location: McLean, VA; Richmond, VA; or Chicago, IL (Hybrid – 3 days onsite per week)
Duration: Approximately 4 months
Overview:
We are seeking a hands-on Observability Engineer with a strong Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) mindset to accelerate adoption of a modern observability platform. This role focuses on full-stack observability, system traceability, and executive health scoring, enabling a 360-degree view of complex environments and significantly reducing mean-time-to-detect (MTTD).
The ideal candidate will bridge multiple lines of business to deliver end-to-end traceability and unified health indices that align technical performance with business outcomes.
Key Responsibilities:
- Design and implement full-stack observability solutions across distributed systems
- Build end-to-end traceability across multiple systems and business domains
- Develop unified “Health Indices” and executive-level dashboards
- Write and optimize complex queries to analyze API performance, latency, and system health
- Create drill-down dashboard architectures from user journeys to microservice-level insights
- Collaborate with cross-functional teams to support journey mapping initiatives
- Monitor, troubleshoot, and optimize system reliability and performance
- Configure alerts, correlations, and root cause analysis (RCA) processes
- Build and maintain data pipelines and observability integrations
Required Qualifications:
- Strong background in Site Reliability Engineering (SRE)
- Hands-on experience with AWS (ECS, Fargate, Lambda) and Docker
- Proficiency in Python and/or Java
- Expertise with observability tools such as Splunk, New Relic, Observe, or Databricks
- Advanced query experience (SQL, NRQL, SPL, or similar)
- Experience with OpenTelemetry (OTel) and APM tools (e.g., New Relic APM, Datadog)
- Ability to map telemetry data to business outcomes and executive reporting
- Strong analytical, troubleshooting, and communication skills
Preferred Qualifications:
- Experience with GraphQL for data integration
- Familiarity with Jenkins and CI/CD pipeline monitoring
- Proven ability to work across multiple systems to identify hidden or “silent” failures
Additional Requirements:
- Must be able to work onsite in a hybrid model (3 days per week) in McLean, VA, Richmond, VA, or Chicago, IL
About Matlen Silver
Experience Matters. Let your experience be driven by our experience. For more than 40 years, Matlen Silver has delivered solutions for complex talent and technology needs to Fortune 500 companies and industry leaders. Led by hard work, honesty, and a trusted team of experts, we can say that Matlen Silver technology has created a solutions experience and legacy of success that is the difference in the way the world works.
Matlen Silver is an Equal Opportunity Employer and considers all applicants for all positions without regard to race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, sexual orientation, veteran status, the presence of a non-job-related medical condition or disability, or any other legally protected status.
If you are a person with a disability needing assistance with the application or at any point in the hiring process, please contact us at email and/or phone at: [email protected] // 908-393-8600
At The Matlen Silver Group, Inc., W2 employees are eligible for the following benefits:
Health, vision, and dental insurance (single and family coverage)
401(k) plan (employee contributions only)